TECH TIPS

The Resolution Will Not Be Pixelized!
Using Adobe Illustrator and After Effects to Handle Graphics
by Ben Bardens

Often overlooked as a tool for editors, Adobe Illustrator is one of the best and most versatile tools for creating resolution-independent logos and titles that can be used in a variety of video applications. In this article we’ll introduce some of the fundamental features in Illustrator for those working with video. We’ll also reveal a built-in feature in Adobe After Effects that take advantage of Illustrator’s vector format.

Before jumping into our tutorial, let’s review a little computer graphics basics to clarify the different ways of handling graphics. (For further review of CG basics you may wish to refer back to “Creating Graphics with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator CS, Editors Guild Magazine, March-April 2004).

Raster v. Vector


Fig. 1 The same graphic as a bitmap composed of pixels, and a vector composed of shapes.

Computer graphics files can be one of two types: raster (more commonly called “bitmap” graphics) and vector graphics. Bitmap graphics are the familiar Photoshop and jpeg type of files we are commonly given to work with. They are composed of pixels and have a set resolution. A pixel, or picture element, can be thought of as one little block with a color value. If you scale a bitmap graphic up past 100 percent you start to see the pixels that make up the image. For this reason, bitmap graphics are referred to as “resolution-dependent.” On the other hand, vector graphics are shapes, defined by their outline and color values. Because they are defined by their shape, and not by blocks of pixels, they can be scaled to any size, and are described as “resolution-independent” (see figure 1).

You might be asking, “Why aren’t all graphics vector graphics? It sounds like they are better.” And to a degree you would be right; except that vector graphics are not as practical for images that contain millions of colors and subtle gradation, such as a photograph. Converting a photograph to a vector graphic would yield a file with literally millions of tiny vectors; which would be inefficient and require more processing power to deal with. Vector graphics are best suited for images containing defined shapes and limited color palettes, such as logos and illustrations, while bitmap formats are best for photographic and painterly type of images.

From an editor’s standpoint, things like titles and logos, when saved as vector files, can have smaller file sizes and greater flexibility for compositing than they can when saved as bitmap files. For example, a 640 x 480 screen resolution bitmap image of a logo, saved without any type of image compression, will yield a file size of approximately 1 MB. This same logo at the same size, if saved in a vector format can have a file size as small as just a few KB depending on how many vectors compose the file and can be used at any resolution.

Adobe Illustrator is one of the oldest and most well developed vector art programs around. It began as a design tool for the printed page, and has a solid tool set perfect for those working with typography, whether it be for print or screen. And its Photoshop-like interface and tight integration with other Adobe products make it an ideal accessory for the video editor or compositor. When saving files out of Illustrator for use in a video program, you can save in a few different formats. If you are compositing in After Effects, the native Illustrator format (.AI) will work fine. If you are using an Avid or other video application, the more generic Encapsulated Postscript format (.EPS) will provide greater compatibility.

Using vector files in a video application requires “rasterizing” the file––creating a bitmap from the vector file that can be displayed on the screen. Most video applications rasterize vector files as they are imported into the project, which means you must scale the vector file and size it for the screen before bringing it into your timeline. After Effects, however, has a great but often ignored or misunderstood feature called “continuous rasterization,” which is designed specifically to break this limitation and take full advantage of a vector file’s resolution independence.

In this tutorial we’ll create an animated logo that we can use as an end tag to close out a video edit. All we’re being given to work with is a small jpeg of the logo. Often times the client or studio that you are working for will already have a vector file of their logo (it’s worth asking), but many times they won’t. In this exercise we’ll pretend our client doesn’t, so we’ll need to create the file ourself. After we create the vector file, we’ll import it into After Effects and create an animation that takes advantage of the vector format’s resolution independence.

Start by downloading the materials needed to complete the tutorial from http://www.barkanimation.com/guild/14.zip or using your own simple logo to apply the following techniques to.

Tutorial
Start by examining the contents of the tutorial folder. There is a file called logo.jpg that is the source we are being given to work with. There is also a logo.ai file and a sample.aep file for reference, which we will be recreating.

Launch Adobe Illustrator. This tutorial was written using the CS version but applies to older versions as well.

Choose File -> New. In the New Document dialog, enter the name “logo” and specify the 640x480 preset from the Size pop-up. Make sure the Orientation is set for landscape, not portrait, and that the Color Mode is set for RGB. Click OK.

Make sure the following palettes are on your screen (if they are not go under the Window menu and select each one to make it visible): Layers, Swatches and, under the Type sub-menu, Character and Paragraph.

If you’ve ever worked in Photoshop before, you’ll notice how familiar the workspace is. You’ll also notice how many of the tools and palettes are the same.


Fig. 2 Illustrator's Layers palette, showing a regular layer with a template layer underneath.

To recreate the logo.jpg file as a vector we’ll import it into our Illustrator document as a template so that we can easily trace it.

Choose File -> Place. Navigate to the location on your hard drive of the logo.jpg image and select it. Check the box next to Template and then click the Place button.

The logo jpeg will appear in your document window with a lowered opacity value. Look at your layers palette and notice how Illustrator automatically places the jpeg on a locked layer below your active layer (see figure 2).

Before using the tools to recreate the logo, specify the appropriate line and fill color values for the objects you will be creating. In the toolbox, click the Stroke color to bring it to the front and then click the transparency button to specify no stroke weight or color. Click the Fill color to bring it to the front and then in your swatches palette click on the black swatch (see figure 3).


Fig. 3 The Stroke and Fill color swatches. Click the swatch first, and then click the color or transparent button underneath.

Use the Rectangle tool (M on your keyboard) to recreate the black squares which make up part of the logo. If you are using your own logo use the Pen tool and appropriate shape tools to trace your logo. You can zoom in and out on your document window by typing Command + and Command – on the Mac, or Control + and – on a PC, or by using the Magnify tool or Navigator palette. Also, holding the space bar will toggle the Hand tool, so you can scoot around your document when you are zoomed in close (see figure 4).


Fig. 4 The Stroke and Fill color swatches. Click the swatch first, and then click the color or transparent button underneath.

Use the Type tool (T on your keyboard) to recreate the text. Set the text insertion point at the bottom left corner of the M in “Motion” to establish your starting point. In the Paragraph palette, click the Align Left button. Click the little pop-up button in the top right corner of the Character palette and choose Show Options. In the Character palette specify the following settings: Font Arial Bold, Font Size 24 points, Leading 34 points, Horizontal Scale 125 percent. If your system does not have the Arial font installed you can use Helvetica Bold with the same settings. Type in “Motion Picture Editors Guild” in all caps, it should closely match the text in the template layer below (see figure 5).


Fig. 5 Illustrator's expanded Character palette. Modified settings are circled.

Delete the template layer in the layers palette by dragging it to the trash can button at the bottom of the palette.

At this point we could save the file and take it into our editing application, except for one thing: The text that we’ve just created is dependent on the Font being available to the system. This can be a problem if you take the file to another system that does not have the same font installed. It’s good practice to convert the text into a shape object so that it can be used on any system regardless of what fonts are installed. Be aware though, that once the text is converted to outlines it can no longer be edited as text, so make sure there are no typos first (or save a backup of the file).

Using the Move tool (V on your keyboard) click on the text to select it. From the Type menu choose Create Outlines. The text block is converted to a vector shape independent of the system font file.

Save the file. If you are working exclusively between current versions of Adobe software, saving in the native Adobe Illustrator format with the default PDF compatibility option will be fine. To save a more universal EPS file that will be compatible with a wide range of video applications, choose File -> Export.

From the Format pop-up in the Export dialog choose Illustrator Legacy EPS.

In the Legacy EPS Options dialog from the Version pop-up, choose Illustrator 8 EPS. Accept the default settings for this option and click OK.

Close out of Illustrator and launch After Effects.

Create a New Project (File -> New -> New Project) and import either the .AI file or .EPS file you just created (File -> Import -> File).

Create a New Composition (Composition -> New Composition). Enter “logo” for the composition name, choose the NTSC 640x480 preset and specify duration of 3:00. Click OK.

Place the logo file into the composition by dragging it from the project window to the composition window.

Change the background color to white by choosing Composition -> Background Color and then using the color swatch or eyedropper.

With the logo layer selected 0in the timeline window, push S on your keyboard to reveal the Scale property.

Type Option S on your keyboard (Mac) or Alt S (PC) to set a keyframe for Scale at time = 0.

Push the End key on your keyboard to jump to the last frame of the timeline. Change the Scale to 1,000 percent by clicking on the underlined value and entering the new value.

Notice the jagged “stair-step” edge to the graphic. This is because, like most video programs, AE rasterized the logo when we first imported it, creating a bitmap image that we are now seeing scaled up. (see figure 6).


Fig. 6 Part of the scaled up vector file before and after the Continuously Rasterize switch is set.

Click the Collapse Transformations/ Continuously Rasterize switch next to the layer in the timeline window. Notice the image in the composition window now appears crisp and smooth (see figure 7).


Fig. 7 The Collapse Transformations/Continuously Rasterize switch in the AE timeline.

To fine-tune the animation, I selected the first keyframe and made it into an Ease Out keyframe by choosing Animation -> Keyframe Assistant -> Easy Ease Out. I then moved the keyframe over to approximately 1:15 so the logo is static for a moment before zooming forward. Lastly, I increased the second keyframe’s value from 1,000 percent to 3,300 percent so that the logo completely clears screen at the end.

Render your movie by choosing Composition -> Make Movie and then clicking Render in the Render Queue window.

A Final Word
While this tutorial barely scratches the surface of what can be done using Adobe Illustrator and After Effects, it does introduce some valuable techniques: using a template layer, converting text objects to outlines and using the Continuously Rasterize feature in AE. For additional learning, I recommend the Classroom In A Book for both Illustrator and After Effects, available from Adobe Press.

Guild member Ben Bardens runs a graphics studio and works as an editor/technical director in the Burbank area. He teaches After Effects and Photoshop at Glendale Community College and can be reached at bbardens@glendale.edu. Find out more about his classes at www.glendale.edu/~bbardens.

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